The Keys (re-write)
by the artist with no name
Summary: The original story, only re-writen with some Sasami/Tsunami thrown in there. It is, after all, about the goddesses. All I can say is it isn't quite the same story. Rated for language.


I got reviews from people saying this was a really good story, so I just wanted to see if I could make it any better.  Unfortunately, It's longer and has a new twist to it that some may like, but others won't find so amusing.  Nothing vulgar, but the idea might upset some, but I think more would like it, seeing it's a topic that not many people write about.  I remember getting a review from Diane Long saying that she would like to read the alternate endings I had for this story, but I think I skipped that idea and just went to all out re-writing it.  I tend to get carried away, so this is what I did with it.  

By the way, _Tenchi Muyo and characters do not belong to me._  They are the property of Pioneer and AIC Inc.  

The Keys 

Where am I?

...You're here...

But where's here?

...I don't know.  You tell me...

Very helpful.  I _would_ tell you, but there's one problem.  I can't see anything

...Open your eyes...

They _are_ open

...No they're not.  Open them...

Whatever you say

Pause.

I still don't see anything

...Open your eyes wider…

The silhouette of a woman appeared against the blackness and guessing from the way she stood, she wasn't in a very good mood.  She was tall with hair that reached down her back in long, spiked tendrils and while her back was ramrod straight, her head was tilted down in thought with one hand rested on her hip and the other to her chin.    

...Your eyes still aren't open...

Obviously they are

...Guess again.  Open your eyes...!

They are open!  I see…a woman.  Do _you_ see her?

...That is not an issue.  The question is, do _you_ see her...?

Duh.  Of course I see her

...I'll humor you this once.  This woman you claim to see...

Pause.

What about her?

...You tell me.  You know her as well as you know yourself...

How can I tell you about her if I don't even know what she looks like?

...You must not know yourself very well...

Another pause.

You seem to know who she is, so tell me.  Who is she?

…I asked you first…

Well, I don't know, so spill it

...Look deeper, and you'll find out...

No can do.  I would've remembered her if I had seen her

...You have a lot of doors to unlock to fix this so all you have to do is find the right keys...

Keys?  I don't understand

...You will...

***************************************

The light was dim, yet strong enough to sting Washu's eyes as she brought her mind back to the waking world with a groan, letting the dream run over her mind and tickle her thoughts.  This was the third consecutive week she's had it every night and every time she wakes up from it, it confuses her that much more.  It's the same thing, over and over.  

***************************************

It's just a dream she thought while resting an arm over her eyes to shield them from the piercingly dull light before a little crab appeared in front of her and shook from side to side to indicate that someone was in the lab. 

Sasami.

Washu slowly rolled over before landing her feet in a pair of slippers that rested obediently next to the bed and walked out of her room to find the little girl searching for her. "Hi, Washu!" she chimed in her usual perky voice that pierced Washu's ears just as badly as the dim light had stung her eyes. 

"What can I help ya' with, Sasami?" she asked with a yawn while massaging her temples.

"Breakfast is ready.  Are you coming?" Sasami asked hopefully.  Washu was about to tell her that she had too much to do, but after seeing the girl's pleading expression she couldn't say no.  Not to mention her motivation to do anything was zero.

"Of course, Sasami.  I would never miss one of your delicious meals," Washu smiled, though she dreaded getting up and being active yet.  Her mind was still too preoccupied at this point and her body was tired.  She had to figure out this dream so it would go away, but it seems to be more confusing than she would have liked it to be.

*****************************************

The table was quiet and everyone took their seats in a half-asleep daze, hence the reason for the table being so quiet.  Ayeka was the first to arrive, like always, followed by Tenchi and then Ryoko, who seemed to be the only one that wasn't in zombie mode.  Even Washu was out of it, seeing she usually had a wise-ass remark to get everyone going on something, yet had remained silent when entering the room.  The morning ritual of preparing their plates was performed and everyone seemed content with the silence that floated in the room while digging in.  Ryoko, however, had different plans and took her mother's role of livening the scene up a bit and her methods required the target of a certain princess sitting across from her. 

"How was I last night, Tenchi?" she droned while wrapping an arm around him and rubbing her nose against his cheek.  The ball had been pushed and pushed rather far, considering the flustered look on Ayeka's face at the mention of foreplay.

"What did you do to him, demon!?" she shouted after taking the bait, hook, line, and sinker before a smile slowly curved the corners of Ryoko's lips where it danced and wavered as she giggled to herself.

"Ryoko, stop it.  Ayeka, we didn't do anything last night.  All I did was go to sleep," Tenchi said as he gave Ryoko a harsh look and seeing her downcast look from hearing the irritation in his voice.  

"Of all the nerve…" Ayeka said as she shook her fists at the pirate who was now pouting in her seat.  Her tail slowly weaved back and forth, showing how disappointed she was with the outcome of her attempts to liven things up.  Half the people at the table were still zombies and she had lost interest in this battle as soon as it had begun upon seeing the slightly flustered look on Washu's face while she stared at her plate.  Ryoko had to admit that the midget really was her mother, but no one said she had to like it.  Well, maybe she liked the idea a little more than she thought she did, seeing the scientist's motionless pose accompanied by the deep wrinkle over wide eyes actually bothered the ex-space pirate.  Then again, maybe it was curiosity, but you know what they say.  Curiosity killed the cat, and this cat had no desire to play with fire.  

*******************************************

The table had settled down considerably after Ryoko's little insinuation, but Washu hadn't even noticed anything had been said, seeing her head was now filled with the voice that had spoken to her in her dreams. 

...Having crazy dreams, are you...? the voice whispered to her in a distant yet influential tone, as though they were speaking through a phone with the receiver three feet away from their face.  It sounded vaguely familiar, yet Washu couldn't think of exactly whom it belonged to and blinked her eyes while swiftly glancing around the table, but saw that the voice wasn't from anyone in the room.  

...You won't find me here... it sang as Washu returned to staring at her food with the distant look of thought still on her face. 

Who are you? she asked herself but didn't realize she had drawn Ryoko's attention and failed to see the pirate staring at her with a slight look of wonderment on her face, yet the distant look that was still on Washu's face forced her words to remain unspoken.  

...Let's just say you know me better than you think... 

And what's _that_ suppose to mean? 

...Now, what about these keys...? it asked, not acknowledging her statement.  

You should know, seeing you brought them up.  Besides, it's just a dream.  It doesn't mean anything Washu whispered, also loosing interest in her question as well as her overall conversation with this voice.  It never answered her questions.  

...You, of all people, should know better.  Dreams are more than just random images your mind pulls from a hat while you sleep.  They're memories and if not that, than images from the subconscious… 

Not true.  Dreams are quite odd when you're not sober

…Even still.  What you dream about usually involves people you know or places you've been.  Memories.  If not, than they're people or places you've seen that you don't consciously remember.  Memories from the subconscious…  

Who _are_ you?  _Where_ are you? 

...I'm right here.  Where else would I be...? 

Bullshit.  I don't see you 

...Open your eyes... it whispered.  Washu's breath caught in her throat and squeezed through her vocal cords with a wheeze while she stared wide-eyed at the others who's attention had been drawn by the sudden snap of her head.   

"Washu, is something wrong?" Sasami asked as she noticed Washu's eyes fluttering as if she were going to pass out.  Washu cleared her thoughts and merely held her stunned expression for a moment before shaking her head and returning to her breakfast.

"I'm fine, Sasami," she muttered before letting the silence roll back into the room like the Mists of Avalon and clouded everyone's conversational intentions.

******************************************

Washu's plate was still piled with food by the time Sasami started cleaning up and she stared at it thoughtfully as she brought it over to Tenchi who was helping her with the dishes.  She couldn't help but feel as though something was wrong and knew that it was more than just the scientist not being hungry or because her mind was on an experiment.  It was the kind of wrong that sent slight chills up Sasami's spine and back down again.  

"You know, Washu was acting funny at breakfast this morning," the young Jurian princess mumbled while tilting her head at Tenchi as he took the plate from her hands.  

"It's probably nothing serious.  She's always thinking about something, so I wouldn't worry about it," Tenchi said as he watched the blue-haired princess wrap the food and place it in the fridge.  She nodded her head, but she knew for a fact that her intuition was telling her that something was up and she was ultimately going to be needed, so she believed it.  It had never led her wrong in the past, so why should it now?

********************************************

The morning dragged by at a snail's pace and Ryoko found it hard to stay focused on any one thing for more than five minutes.  She rolled over onto her stomach as she tried to nap on the couch but just couldn't get comfy despite how much she wanted to fall asleep.  She let out a huff of aggravation and got up with intentions of visiting her mother in the lab, which is something she found herself doing more often than not these days.  A smile danced on her lips as she thought of how Washu would occasionally get drunk with her, but alas; that only happened during one of her rare, 'I don't want to be smart' moods.  The ex-space pirate fazed through the door in hopes of rousing a good jump from the seemingly distant scientist with expectations of raising her spirits a bit.  Washu may have been moody lately, but she was always up for a visit from Ryoko, even if she did use playful, yet meaningless surprises to get her attention away from her work.  Washu's expression throughout breakfast and her random words had confused her and at first she thought it was only because of her workaholic attitude, but she wasn't so sure anymore.  Ryoko thought she might give this mother/daughter relationship thing a whirl and try to help her out, seeing she was now aware of Washu's odd dreams from the one-sided conversation she had listened in on.  Ryoko took the first excuse she could find and thought her mother had only been conversing with Tsunami, but she found that to be unlikely.  Yet she didn't want to think of it as her mother loosing it and talking to herself, but Ryoko reassured herself after realizing that everyone talks to themselves.  It's just that some people have more oddball ways of going about it than others did and Washu was an oddball indeed.  Ryoko slowly floated in and saw the small scientist typing away at her computer, like usual, and grinned evilly to herself as she saw her opportunity to sneak up on the redhead; yet the scowl she gave after sensing Washu's failure to notice her was more than enough evidence to show her disappointment.

"Well, the least you can do is acknowledge that I'm here," Ryoko pouted while straightening her posture and resting her hands on her hips with a slight tilt to her head.  Bingo.  Washu spun around with the reaction Ryoko was hoping for and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, but the look on her face didn't settle well with Ryoko.  Her brow was wrinkled over a pair of narrow eyes and a small curl of her upper lip forced a faint scowl to her face.  Ryoko, however, ignored the fact that Washu was upset about her methods of getting her attention and let out a pale snort accompanied by a half smile.

"My, my.  Quite jumpy today, aren't we?" Ryoko asked as she held back the urge to giggle after seeing Washu shit her pants and continued to ignore the redhead's expression.  Ryoko heard her mumble something under her breath and gave her a displeased look as the scientist sat back down to continue her work without another word.  

"Well aren't you even going to say 'hi'?" Ryoko asked before realizing that Washu wasn't interested in her company by the way she ignored her words.  She had always been willing to talk to Ryoko, seeing hardly anyone comes to see her in here, so this only confused Ryoko that much more. 

"Fine.  Be that way," Ryoko snapped as she left the room to leave Washu with her precious work. 

********************************************

The house had been cleaned and the laundry had been hung, so Sasami headed for the living room to relax a bit before making lunch for the others and came across Ryoko lying on the couch with a bored look on her face.

"Hi, Ryoko," Sasami chirped in a voice she's seemingly mastered, despite her mood.  She had been stuck on her thoughts of Washu's behavior all morning and couldn't figure out why it had her so preoccupied.  

"Hi, Sasami," Ryoko drawled lazily before letting out a long, drawn out yawn.    

"Have you seen Washu?  She was acting weird at breakfast," Sasami said as she tilted her head over at the cyan-haired woman who was smiling slightly at the reaction Washu had given her earlier.  She at least had that one satisfaction to fuel the small smile on her face.  

"I just scared the crap out of her but she didn't even say 'hi'.  Pretty rude if you ask me," Ryoko said while letting her smile fade with the satisfaction to be replaced by the aggravation she felt for the scowl she had received.   Her smile returned, however, upon seeing the bored look on Sasami's face and she redirected her thoughts to other things.  "Hey, Sasami.  Want to play a game?" 

"Sure."

"What to play…" Ryoko hummed as she held her chin in thought before fading from sight.  The air behind Sasami wavered for a moment before being taken up by the ex-space pirate who had a smile on her face and a playful outlook on the afternoon.  "You pick something."

*******************************************

Lunch finally rolled around and Sasami was just placing the food on the table when everyone arrived.  They took their respective seats and the first one to notice Washu's absence was Tenchi, who smiled at the others while rising to his feet.

"I'm going to go get Washu." 

"Good luck," Ryoko mumbled while taking a large bite of food and remembering how the redhead had reacted to her earlier.  Tenchi merely ignored her remark by heading for the lab and walked in to see Washu at her computer, which wasn't an unusual sight.  Though the screen was flashing, her fingers were still and the look on her face told Tenchi that she was obviously thinking about something.  

"Washu?" he asked, forcing Washu to let out a shout and jump out of her chair to regard him correspondingly to how she had regarded Ryoko, just without the scowl.

"Sorry.  Didn't mean to scare you like that.  I just wanted to let you know that lunch was ready," he said while pointing over his shoulder at the door. 

"I won't be joining you, Tenchi.  Sorry," she mumbled as she took her seat once again to continue her work.  Tenchi finally gave up in thinking of a way to change her mind and started back to the table but turned around at the door as he noticed that she had stopped typing and was staring at the screen again.  Yet he decided once again to let Washu keep her reasons for being so distant and left the room before he opened his mouth.

*******************************************

The work Washu had started had swiftly lost her interest and she found herself staring at her computer screen more so than actually doing anything.  She just didn't feel like doing anything 'intelligent' today and these dreams were really starting to bother her seeing as the voice in her dream was now starting to speak with her while she was awake.  The idea of a large jug of saké, her, and Ryoko sitting on the porch with red faces and a perm-a-grin brought a smile to her face.  It would be a brief relief from this dream situation and provide her with the drunken stupor that would make this voice seem funny if is chose to speak up.  

...Still can't figure it out, can you...? 

"Why are you bothering me?" Washu sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose with a slight wrinkle on her brow.  

…Because you brought me here.  That's why… the voice commented and the sound of her voice brought out Washu's better judgment on this immediate situation.  She slowly lifted her head up to look over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes as she spotted something in the shadows to her left but no matter how hard she tried to focus, she still couldn't see who it was.  All it seemed to be was an outline.  

"Come where I can see you and we might be able to get somewhere." 

...You don't need to see me to know who I am, Washu...  

Washu's skin prickled at the tone this voice used and she swiftly shook her body as if she were cold and rubbed her arms with a slump to her shoulders.  It was too much like Katsuhito with its cryptic messages and even though the figure was only about ten feet from her, it sounded like she was standing miles away with her voice echoing off the walls, despite its softness.  "You don't sound familiar." 

...I know you've seen me in your dreams.  Why don't you try to find me in your memories... it suggested in a chirpy voice that totally contradicted with her previous tone.  Washu furrowed her brow while giving in and trying to remember this woman, but she remained a stranger.

"I don't know who you are, but you don't belong here." 

...Neither do you... it counteracted as it's voice echoed through her mind and thoughts instead of off the walls this time.  Washu slowly turned her head over to see that the owner of the voice was gone, leaving her with nothing but more questions left unanswered by someone she felt she should know.  

*******************************************

Lunch had progressed with little conversation, despite how Ryoko had tried to get Ayeka to fight with her, but she had lost interest right away, like at breakfast.  The living room was too stuffy for the ex-pirate's liking, so she disappeared and found herself at her favorite napping spot.  The cherry trees along the path to the shrine.  She let out a lazily content sigh and rested her head on her hands while staring through the pink flowers above her.  She let her mind wander and found herself thinking of her mother and how she had reacted to her.  The fact that Ryoko had scared the piss out of her still brought a small triumphant smile to her face, but the reaction she received afterwards confused her and she found that it was upsetting her.  Had she done something wrong?  She always scared her, so why was this time any different?

"Taking a nap?" she heard Tenchi say from beneath her.  The smile on her face faded ever-so-slightly as she looked down to see his face beaming up at her with a large grin.  She snorted in spite of herself as her smile returned and appeared next to him with happy thoughts filtering into her mind.  She fought with all her power to resist the urges to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug, so instead, she settled with looping her arm around his and smiled proudly to herself at his tilted face that regarded her with an awkward, yet amused look.  

"What are you doing way out here, Tenchi?" she droned.  

"I was just taking a walk.  I have nothing better to do and I enjoy looking at the trees," he sighed as he looked up at the pedals of the cherry tree Ryoko had previously been resting in.  She wrinkled her brow for a second as she heard that he was only bored and had just happen to come across her instead of intending to come see her, but smiled all the same while hugged his arm tightly.

"Me too," she muttered lazily as Tenchi led the way back to the house.  Ryoko was a little surprised that she was so content with just walking with her arm around his and believed it to be more peaceful than him trying to _run_ back to the house.  He seemed to be enjoying it due to the smile on his face, so she didn't push her limits too much.  Washu had always told her to approach him more like Ayeka does and had never really tried it, but since the redhead has been so distant lately, she decided to take a lot of her advice into consideration.  It actually made a lot of sense and Ryoko found herself kicking her own ass for being so stubborn. 

"Ryoko, do you think Washu's okay?" he blurted out of the blue, causing Ryoko to snort dryly at him while shrugging her shoulders helplessly.

"I don't know.  She wouldn't talk to me," Ryoko sneered as she felt the happy mood lift from the atmosphere like a bird in flight.  She cared for the redhead and this was way too weird to just ignore.  She had _never_ reacted to her like that in the past, so that would make this a first and Ryoko didn't like it.  She almost felt like the bad guy in this scenario.

"She didn't really talk to me when I went to get her for lunch," he thought out loud before shrugging his shoulders much like she had and smiled reassuringly at the ex-pirate upon noticing her silence.  He knew this was upsetting her, despite how she tried to hide it from everyone else, but he could see the concern she held for the situation and felt that it wasn't a topic that should be spoken of right this moment. "She'll be fine."

*******************************************

Dinner was already placed on the table and Sasami was patiently waited for everyone to show up.  The afternoon had gone by even slower than this morning so everyone seemed tired and groggy from the sluggish pace.  After a few minutes of twiddling her thumbs, everyone filed to the table and took their usual seats much to Sasami's satisfaction, seeing they always showed up for meals.  Accept for Washu, that is, who would occasionally skip a meal here and there, but she always made up for it in one of her weird, 'Washu' sort of ways.  Tonight, however, Washu decided to show up and strolled in with an extremely tired look on her face and a lag in her walking speed.  

"Washu, you look tired.  You should get some sleep," Sasami persisted, but Washu merely ignored her concern while sitting down and putting a scarce amount of food on her plate.  She took one bit but stopped before she even finished chewing and wrinkled her brow again as the whisper returned.

...You still don't see it, do you...?

See what? 

...What you're doing to yourself...   

And just what am I doing to myself? 

...Didn't think so.  You can't even figure out who I am... it added dryly, causing Washu to scowl as this became harder and harder to follow.  This voice randomly popped into her head and appeared in her lab, as well as her dreams, yet it didn't answer any of her questions.  Well, not logically at least.

"Washu, are you okay?" Tenchi prodded after seeing her angered look.  She looked up at him while swiftly painting on a fake smile to try and reassure his thoughts of concern. 

"I'm fine, Tenchi.  Thank you for asking, though," she said as cheerfully as she could possibly pull off before looking back at her food and returning to her thoughts.

...Don't ignore me.  It won't make me go away...

Than what will? 

...I will go away only when you realize who I am and how to fix your predicament... it snapped while Washu closed her eyes to think about this last statement.  Predicament?  What predicament?  This was pissing her off really badly at this point and she found herself walking out of the room with everyone watching after her before returning to their meals with thoughts of helplessness on their minds.

*********************************************

The boredom was already settling in as Ryoko sat down on the couch while the others cleaned up after dinner and she wished there was more to do other than watch TV.  

"Hi, Ryoko," Washu announced as she entered the room.  The ex-pirate slowly looked up and stared at the redhead as she sat next to her on the couch, thinking there really wasn't anything she had to say to her, but she found that she was glad that she had come to her instead of the other way around.  "Sorry about earlier.  I was just in a bad mood and I was wondering if you wanted to help me with this?" 

Ryoko's lips curled into a grin and her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as Washu held up a very large jug of saké and nodded her head while following Washu out to the front porch, which seemed to be their designated drinking spot.    

...Great.  Now you're getting drunk.  Why must you intend on leaving me out of the fun...? the voice whined comically, causing Washu to wrinkle her brow at the playfulness in its tone.  

Can't I do anything without you butting in?  

…I'm tellin you.  You, me, and a jug of saké is quite the company to keep.  Come on, let me out.  It's boring in here…it persisted in a childish, whiny voice that caused Washu to wrinkled her face in bafflement.  It had been so mature and cryptic sounding earlier so this was making it seem unusual, not to mention slightly out of character.

Character?  Who the hell _is she? Washu asked herself.  _

"Why so quiet, Washu?" Ryoko asked, unable to keep her questions at bay an longer.

"No reason.  Just thinking, that's all."

"You know, you don't always have to use the link when thinking to yourself.  I've found myself listening in on some pretty strange stuff," Ryoko said as she polished off her first drink.  She wrinkled her brow slightly as Washu visibly winced before taking this into her own hands.  "Well, seeing it's out in the open now, why not talk about it?  What's been on your mind, genius?"

"Nothing that concerns you, Ryoko," Washu snapped.  

"Well excuuuse me for being worried," Ryoko hissed, mirroring her mother's attitude perfectly.  Washu let out a long sigh as she refilled the saké saucers.  

"I can't help it, Ryoko.  I don't mean to snap at you, but everything that's been on my mind has had me in a knot."

"And just what _is going on?"_

"I don't really know.  Things just aren't making any sense anymore and everything I do seems to be…meaningless almost," Washu said as she swirled the alcohol in the saucer.  Ryoko leaned forward on her knees and rested her head against her fist while giving Washu her full attention.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been having these weird dreams…"

"I know that much."

"But I have no idea what they mean or why I'm having them."

"Too much saké before bed perhaps?"

"I've tried to analyze them to get a better idea of what they're trying to tell me, but I loose interest in anything I begin.  I haven't worked on an experiment of any kind in over three weeks." 

"Three weeks?  Geez, what're you thinking?  You're way behind schedule now."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Ryoko," Washu said with a roll of her eyes and a small smile as Ryoko giggled at the comment.  It then dawned on Washu about what Ryoko had just said and turned her head to give the ex-pirate a thoughtful look.

"What?" Ryoko asked. 

"You're worried about me?" Washu asked with a small smile.  

"Maybe…" Ryoko muttered after a short pause.  She had never wanted to admit her feelings for Washu to anyone else and here she was, admitting them to Washu herself.  Well, she hadn't admitted anything yet, so she could still work her way out of this one.  

"Just admit it, Ryoko," Washu said as she playfully nudged Ryoko with her shoulder.

"There's nothing to admit."

"Don't give me that.  You said you were worried about me, so why not just say it."

"Say what?"

"Come on.  Call me mom."

"You're crazy."

"Please?  Just call me mom.  What's the harm in that?"

"A lot.  I don't want to call you mom because I don't think of you as one, okay?" Ryoko spat as her aggravation grew with Washu's persistence.  The redhead stared at her for a moment before looking down at her saucer with a slightly hurt look on her face.  

"Don't do that.  I hate that."

"Well, you say you're worried about me one minute and then show not even a thread of affection the next.  It just confuses me, that's all," Washu mumbled as she lazily swirled the liquid in her saucer.  Ryoko let out a sigh and finished off her drink before handing it over to Washu, who took it without looking at her.  

"What do you want me to say?" Ryoko finally asked.

"You know what I want you to say."

"Why does it mean so much to you?"

"Because you're my daughter and you're denying it to my face.  Every time, you deny it," Washu said with a slight bite to her voice.   

"Well excuse me if I don't remember you," Ryoko spat back before dropping all conversation with the redhead for a while.  The silence was comforting at first, but swiftly grew awkward, seeing what Washu had said was right, in a way.  She always asked her to call her mom, but Ryoko would never oblige.  She would always turn the other cheek and insult her somehow.  It then dawned on Ryoko that she had never come outright and asked Washu about her past and she knew nothing of it, so how was she to know the redhead was wrong?  

"Tell me about my past," Ryoko said after a while, breaking the awkward silence. 

"What do you want to know?" Washu asked flatly.  It was obvious she was still hurt by Ryoko's words.

"Everything," Ryoko said as she made herself comfortable.  Washu looked over at her before letting out a sigh and following Ryoko's move and making herself comfortable.

"Well, you were smart and had a mouth that no other mother but myself could really put up with.  You always had the last word in any argument, but you were never intentionally rude to anyone.  Except a few, which I never tried to stop you."

"A few?  Like who?"

"You know who.  You hate them almost as much as I do."

"Kagato…"

"We won't talk about him."

"Good idea.  Who was the other?"

"It's not important."

"It is if I hated them."

"I said it's not important, okay?  We don't need to talk about either of them."

"So I was smart, huh?" Ryoko asked after another moment of silence.

 "Extremely.  Everyone would always comment on how quick you were with an answer and how often you had one."

"No kidding?"

"I swear it.  You were the cutest little girl, too," Washu hummed with a slow shake of her head as she looked down at her feet.  

"How much did I pay you to say that one?" Ryoko chortled, receiving a light smack on the shoulder.

"You may have been smart, but you weren't shrewd, Ryoko.  I always wondered what it would've been like raising you as a teenager," Washu said with a curious tone to her voice, but her face soon wrinkled with the memories of loosing the little girl she once knew.  Ryoko picked up on this and knew for a fact that what she was hearing was what the scientist really felt and thought.  She knew Washu could act out almost any part, but Ryoko always seemed to be able to tell when it was the truth or an act.  

"I wish I could remember," Ryoko said after another short, yet heavy silence.  

"I do too, Ryoko.  I do too," Washu mumbled softly as she raised her eyes to the sky.  

"Don't you have a machine that could fix that for me?"

…Watch where you go with this, Washu.  You don't know what you're getting yourself into… the voice said as it decided to interrupt the conversation.  Washu wrinkled her brow but swiftly regained her posture and snorted as she took the voice's advice for a change.  She had always argued with it, so she was slightly curious as to what would happen if she actually agreed for once, seeing she had a few drinks in her.

"I do, but it's not worth it, Ryoko."

"And why do you say that?  You want me to have my memories back and I _want them back, so what's the harm in it?" _

"Ryoko, it's so old and hasn't been tested for years that I wouldn't risk your entire mental structure to have something you can get on your own."

"Get on my own?  What do you mean?"

"The memories are there, Ryoko.  You just need to find them yourself."

…You should practice what you preach… the voice snickered, causing Washu to let out an irritated sigh while closing her eyes.  

"Are you okay?" Ryoko asked after seeing the look on Washu's face.

"I'm fine, Ryoko.  Just tired of this topic."

"How did we get on this topic anyway?" Ryoko asked after a moment of thought.

"I have absolutely no idea," Washu chortled while shaking her head and pouring another round of drinks as well as starting a new topic.    

***********************************************

I'm sorry, it was pretty long, but I wanted to make it clear that it's changed a lot.  I think I've done that, so they'll be getting shorter.  Let me know if you want me to post the new story, so that means I'll need reviews.  


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